The German research and innovation system has a broad, differentiated structure, and research is conducted in a variety of public and private institutions. At the public level, there are universities, colleges and universities of applied sciences. University research is characterized by a broad subject matter and methodologies, whereas at universities of applied sciences, there is more of a focus on applied research.

Furthermore, central and local government research and development activities serve to prepare and support policy and administrative decisions. This departmental research focuses on current societal, technological, economic, and population health issues and develops courses of action for government measures.

Industry is an important player in the German research landscape. More than two-thirds of annual funding invested in research in Germany comes from the private sector. These funds are spent on the companies’ own research as well as on joint projects with partners from science. The research conducted in this sector is application-oriented in nature and is aimed directly at utilizable results.

Source: Federal Report on Research and Innovation, Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Germany's Leading-Edge Clusters

Excellence Initiative

The Excellence Initiative aims to promote top-level research and to improve the quality of German universities and research institutions in general, thus making Germany a more attractive research location, making it more internationally competitive and focusing attention on the outstanding achievements of Germany universities and the German scientific community.